Band for garments



April 5, 1938.

H. HARDIE ET AL 2,112,892

EAND FOR cmmwENTs` Filed Oct. 16, 1935 M Lug Mf/rATroRNEYS Patented Apr. 5, 1.938

PATENT OFFICE BAND FOR GARMENTS Harry Hardie and John F. Hargreaves, vBaltimore, Md., assignors to The Faultless Manufacturing Company, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Maryland Application October 16, 1935, Serial No. 45,173'

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to a band for garments and is an improvement on the construction disclosed in the Harsh Reissue Patent 16,641 of May 31, 1927.

The Harsh reissue patent discloses an elastic band for garments comprising a sheath of folded stretchable material enclosing a strip of sheet rubber which is locked in' position in the sheath by stretchable stitching and then a separate row of stitches is used to attach the band to the gar# ment in such manner that the band extends above the upper edge of the garment.

'I'he construction disclosed in the Harsh patent is very satisfactory for many purposes, but for other purposes, it is not the most satisfactory construction in that the entire band is visible from the outside of the garment and this may be unsightly since there is usually a distinct diil'erence in appearance between the material of the garment` and the Harsh band. Furthermore, in

the Harsh construction, under certain conditions,

there is a tendency of the relatively wide sheet of rubber to wrinkle and trap water when the garment is laundered, thereby causing the materials j of the band to deteriorate.

The present invention comprises a substantial improvement on the Harsh construction in that it comprises relatively narrow strips of sheet rubber which are sewn in place by elastic stitches and are enclosed on one side by a sheath of preferably stretchable fabric and on the other side by the fabric of the garment which may or may not be stretchable. This construction is more eco-l nomical to manufacture than the Harsh band for the reason that the band is fabricated directly on the garment and the stitches which hold the rubber in place are the same stitches which secure the band to the garment. This construction provides a belt wherein the outside of the band is completed by the fabric of the garment, thereby obviating an unsightly band which extends above the garment, as is the .case in the Harsh construction. In the present construction, the inside of the band is smooth while the outside thereof .5 may be shirred and the wearer thereby is protected from the uncomfortable feeling produced by a shirred garmentin con'tact with the skin, or where the shirring is Vforced against the body of the wearer by elastic material constricting the shirred cloth.

The present construction also provides a space between the sheet rubber bands so that there is a provision for ventilation through the band or belt and also an outlet through which trapped moisqture or Water may escape.

In the present construction, the lparts are fabricated with the stretchable inside covering and the rubber being sewed in place when the rubber is slightly under tension, providing the belt is to be used with garment material or outside material which is non-stretchable. Where the belt is fabricated on garment material which of itself is stretchable, the rubber and the inside sheath may be sewn in position without tension on the rubber. Since the sheet rubber bands are separate and are individually sewed in place, each bami operates independent of the other and the thickness of the band may be slightly increased over the sheet rubber bands used in the Harsh construction, so that with the multiple bands used in the present device substantially the same tension is obtained as in the Harsh construction using one single wide strip. Since each band mayv operate independently of the other, the cloth material between thebands is free to distort obliquely when the stress on the .respective bands is no t uniform.

The present construction produces a very attractive elastic band for a garment with a maximum amount of comfort to thewearer.

Other and further objects of the present invention will in part be obvious and will in part be pointed out in 'the specification hereinafter following by reference to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

While the preferred form only of the invention is disclosed, it is to be understood that the disclosure is illustrative and is not to beconsidered in the limiting sense.

Fig. l illustrates a band on a garment with a portion broken away to show the sheet rubber strips in place.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the band shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section through the band on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates a portion of a band fabricated on a garment formed of .knitted or stretchable material.

Fig. 5 is a section through a band on 5 5 of Fig. 4. x y

The band comprising the present invention is made up of strips i and 2 of highly elastic sheet rubber which is treated in such manner as to resist washing and laundering and also to resist perspiration from the body of the wearer. A strip of stretchable fabric I, preferably knit Jersey type, is folded over the rubber strips I and 2 in such manner that the edges 5 and 6 of the fabric are folded under the rubber strips I and 2 respectively. me knit Jersey strip I comprises the inner side of the band. Rows of stretchable stitches 'l and l pass through the rubber strips I and I and the edges l and 5 respectively of the stretchable fabric cover strip I. The fabric of the garment I'msy be non-stretchable material as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 with the upper edge folded over to form the fold III and the stretchable stitches I likewise pass through this folded edge III. The stretchable stitches 8 pass through the body wall l of the garment so that when the stretchable stitching operation is performed, the band is lcompletely fabricated in place on the garment.

In the manufacture of the band, the entire construction is assembled and fabricated in a single operation by passing the materials through a quadruple needle sewing machine which simultaneously forms the two rows of stretchable stitches 1 and t so that the assembly and fabrication of the belt occur in a single operation.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a construction identical with that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 with the exception that the fabric II of the garment is stretchable material, preferably of the Jersey knit type. The construction illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 is made exactly the same as the constructions illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 except that where desirable, the sheet rubber strips used in Figs. 4 and 5 need not be sewed in place under tension, whereas in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the strips are sewed in position under tension in order that the non-stretchablel garment material will be shirred as soon as the tension is relieved after the stitching operation.

Preferably, the ends of the waist band terminate in fastener pads I2 'and I4 which may carry a button I5, and a buttonhole I6, or other suitable fastening means devices.

In many uses of the device, it is not necessary to provide for opening the garment or belt, in that there may be provided sufficient velasticity in the band itself to permit the garment to be adjusted in place by the wearer without necessity of opening the belt and in such cases the band may be constructed as a continuous unit.

Where the band is used on an open type belt, the sheet rubber strips are securely anchored between anchor pads I2 and i4 at the end of the belt so that there is no danger of the strips pulling out from the anchor pads when the pads are secured together and the sheet rubber strips are under tension.

In the present construction, the inside face of the band is preferably stretchable fabric material while the outer facing may be of different material and different quality, for example, the outer facing may be of silk while the inner part ofthe sheath may be of knitted elastic cotton fabric.

It is recognized that many variations may be` provided in the textile materials used in fabricating the present invention while retaining full advantages of the specific construction comprising a plurality of flat sheet rubber strips sewed in position between a covering facing and an outer garment wall by means of elastic stitches capable of stretching without placing undue tension upon the stitching threads.

lWhat we claim is:-

1. Garment band comprising knit fabric in the form of a sheath having an inner facing and an outer facing, a pair of wide ystrips of sheet rubber spaced apart in said sheath, one adjacent the lower and one adjacent the upper edge of said sheath and held in place in said sheath by stitching penetrating said strips, the knit fabric of said sheath which bridges the space between said strips being free from stitching through a substantial widthwise extent so that it may freely distort obliquely under the stress of relative circumferential displacement of said strips.

2. A garment band comprising fabric in the form ofl a stretchable sheath having an inner facing and an outer facing, a pair of wide strips of sheet rubber spaced apart within said sheath, one adjacent the lower edge and one adjacent the upper edge of said sheath and held in place in said sheath by stitching penetrating the strips,

the stitching being spaced apart so that each strip of rubber may distort independently of the other and the fabric between the stitching may distort obliquely under the stress of relative circumferential displacement of saidv strips.

HARRY HARDIE. JOHN F. HARGREAVES. 

